Spouting off about beer in the Pacific Northwest (and wherever else we're drinking)

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Matt, Stub and Herb

Last night was a night of firsts for Mag and I- our first visit to Matt’s for their legendary Jucy Lucy and our first visit to Stub and Herb’s. Over the weekend we apparently planted a Jucy Lucy seed in Kat’s head so upon deciding she needed to enjoy one, called us to join her and Scott at Matt’s. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve driven by the joint but this was our first step inside and it was just about what I expected. For anyone else that hasn’t been there, this is a no frills joint (menu on the wall- all prices including tax, pop in cans only and dessert consisting of candy bars or M&Ms) but I don’t mean this in a bad way. They have about 10 taps, with more macros than micros but they offer pitchers at a reasonable price and they have both Summit and Sierra Nevada. Our pitchers were filled with Sierra Nevada’s Seasonal, described to us as an early spring beer, and were enjoyed by all. After filling our bellies with some good beer and a good Jucy Lucy we were ready to find a place that had a greater selection of the micros we so love. So it was on to Stub and Herb’s for us, noticing on the way the lights were on at Acadia (not sure if they’re open or just testing the electrical system out). It’s not hard to find something good on tap or in a bottle there and I almost had to get some Two. However right before I ordered, I noticed they had Flat Earth’s Warlock Winter Barleywine and it was too much to resist. It wasn’t as sweet or as overpowering as some barleywines tend to be and was thoroughly enjoyable. I don’t recall what everyone else had other than a Furthermore Knot Stock Pale Ale which is apparently out of Black River Falls, WI that got two thumbs up. Being a Monday night it was pretty quite in there (guess all the kids were still recovering from their weekend partying) which was good so there were few around to witness my horrendous dart and pool skills. Not a bad way to start off the week!